One Life, One Journey, One Tale
by Fireblast123
Summary: Follow Jenna Mayson as she travels through Hoenn. Your standard OC journey fic, but I hope you'll enjoy.
1. Shockingly Chill

Hey there, FB123 here. So I'm gonna try this whole "multi-chapter" thing again. So yeah, on with the show.

Disclaimer: Pokemon and all related properties are owned by Nintendo and Game Freak. I own the OCs here, though.

* * *

"Jenna...Jenna, wake up."

"Mmph."

"Jenna, today is a very important day. Remember?"

"...L'mme 'lone..."

"...Alright. You asked for it. Posi, Water Gun."

"Whirl!"

_Splash!_

"GAH! WHAT THE HELL, MOM!?"

"And a good morning to you, too."

Welcome, to another average morning in the Mayson household. This small family of two parents and a daughter run a significantly large and successful ranch/breeding center/daycare in Petalburg. It was a joint family business; with David Mayson (the father) running the ranch, Mary Mayson (the mother) working the breeding center, and Jenna Mayson (the seventeen-year-old daughter) training the Pokemon in the daycare.

And that daughter (who was just rudely woken up) happens to be me.

"Seriously, what's with the waterfall treatment?" I groaned as I wrung out my long, ice-blue hair.

My mom chuckled, "Trust me, if it was Waterfall, you'd be feeling more than just a little wet behind the ears."

Have I mentioned that she has a horrible sense of humor? Because she does. "You know what I ment."

My mother sighed with a dissapointed look on her face. "Don't you remember what today is, Jen?"

"...Tuesday?"

"No. Also, it's thursday." She suddenly snapped her fingers and pulled out a pencil and pad of paper. "Definitive lack of a sense of time. Inherited from father," she mumbled as she wrote. My mom, being a breeder, is used to making notes about Pokemon offspring and how much they act like their parents, and which parent specifically. Unfortunately, she's been starting to do that with humans, too. Me being her prime subject.

It makes my get-togethers with my friends that much more awkward when we come to my place.

"So today's thursday," I stated with a shrug, "I don't see much reason to rudely wake me up like this."

Putting away her notes, my mom said, "Do you want me to give you hints, or give you a straight answer?"

"I woke up like, a minute ago. What do you think?"

"Hinting it is."

"_Mom!_"

"Kidding, kidding. Today's the day you start your journey, remember? Well, technically, it's the day you should head out to Littleroot, because it takes a day or two to get there by f-Hey! Jenna, what are you do-"

I quickly pushed my mom and her Poliwhirl out of my room and frantically started changed. How could I forget that today was the day I was heading out?! Okay, hair in a high ponytail: check. Bangs flipped over one eye: check. Favorite red tank-top (it has a picture of a chibi-Flareon on it): check. Jeans: check. Boots: check. Various other things that I don't want to waste time listing: check.

I stuffed everything else into my dark-green backpack and bolted out of my room, almost tripping down the stairs in my mad rush to the door. My mom, who was patiently waiting by said door with a smirk, simply said, "Be sure to give me and your father a more proper farewell when you get your starter."

"Will do, mom!" I called back as I flew through the doorway. After barely avoiding an unfortunate mishap with the neighbor's pet Houndoom, my hometown was soon hidden behind the trees and tall grass of route 102.

---

In hindsight, I probably should have grabbed one of my own Pokemon for the trip to Littleroot. It's a pain in the ass to avoid all the wild Pokemon. Sure, a Wurmple or a Zigzagoon may not be very strong, but they can still do some damage to an average human.

By the time I reached Oldale, the sun was already dangerously close to setting. So I quickly found the Pokemon Center (Thank Arceus that they all look the same) and got myself a room with my limited funds. Sucks that normal people have to pay for rooms and Pokemon recovery, while trainers don't.

I also discovered that normal people have to share rooms if it's over-crowded.

I was forced to share a room with another girl who was probably a little younger than me (although she was a head taller). She had short blond hair that fanned out in the back and blue eyes. She wore an unzipped forest camo jacket over a black tanktop, along with dark-blue jeans and black boots. A pair of sunglasses rested on top of her head, and a pair of dogtags hung from her neck. Despite her choise of apparel, however, she was acting extremely shy. She won't speek a peep, and she refuses to even look at me.

Time to change that.

As I returned from the restroom (hate public ones. Hatehatehate!), I sat on the bed opposite of the girl. "I'm Jenna."

"..."

"...You know, it's curtious to give your own name when someone offers their own."

"..." She still refused to even aknowledge my existence; just fiddling with her dogtags seemed to take all of her focus.

Me, being the curious and impatient person I am, decided to see what was so interesting about those oval pieces of metal. "You got family in the army or som-" And the next thing I know, I was pushed to the ground by an incredibly strong arm, the girl leaning all of her weight onto my ribcage.

"Don't. Touch. Me." She hissed with the utmost seriousness. Now that I looked closer, she had a light scar going down from her right eyebrow to the left of her jaw. Guess she isn't wearing all that army stuff for the hell of it.

Damn, this chick is _heavy!_ "Look-" I coughed a bit from the lack of air. "Can you let up a bit so I can-" More coughing. "live?" She obliged, but still kept me pinned to the ground. "Just tell me your name, and I'll leave you alone. I swear."

"...Elektra."

As unpredictable as lightning. Her name is fitting.

Elektra finally let me stand up, and true to my word, I didn't utter a singe peep for the rest of the night.

My dad said I might meet strange people on my Pokemon journey. He never said about _before_ though! Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings...

* * *

So...Good? Bad? So-so? Click the review button and let me know!


	2. Dark Glares

Sorry for the wait, finals in college.

* * *

When morning came, I was out of the Oldale gate before you could say "Politoad picked a precious pearl" five times fast. I was in no rush to see Elektra off, that's for sure.

Anywho, after more walking and avoiding wild Pokemon, I had finally reached Littleroot at midday. The town was small, quaint, and...Boring. Really. It's too quiet and small, and it looks like nothing happens here. Ever. Hell, I think I could see the entire town from a small hill.

My dislike for small towns aside, I started asking around for where Professor Birch's lab was located. After getting hit on by a some random guy ("What pretty violet eyes you have." he had said. "All the better to shoot laser beams with." I said back.), I finally got directions to the lab. The place was big, and I had no idea how I missed it. It clearly stood out from everything else in this town. I entered the building, and was greeted to a reception room. A middle-aged woman sat behind a desk, typing away at a computer. At the sound of my entrance, she looked away from the screen and greeted, "Hello, welcome to the Wild Pokemon Research Laboratory. How may I help you?"

I raised an eyebrow. "This is...Is this Birch's lab?" I was not informed of any Wild Pokemon place.

"Ah! Yes, well, the Wild Pokemon Research Laboratory is the real name of this facility. It is more commonly referred to as Birch's Lab. So I assume you're where you need to be?"

I nodded. "Yep. I'm here to start my journey."

The receptionist nodded back. "I see." She turned to the computer. "Name, please?"

"Jenna Mayson."

She immediately stopped typing to give me a look of sudden recognition. "...Jenny?"

...How does she know my 'kiddie name?' "Erm...Do I know yo-GAK!"

The lady had reached across the counter to pull me into a big, long, awkward hug. "Jenny, look at you! You're all grown up!"

"As much fun as this is, can I be released? And can you also tell me who you are?"

"Oh!" The crazy woman let go of me and settled back in her seat. "I'm terribly sorry for that, Jenny. But, don't you recognise me?" Before I could answer with a negative, she mumbled to herself, "Well, I guess it has been over ten years..." Then louder, "I'm your aunt! Aunt Sera!"

I have an aunt? Oh yeah...Now I remember. Mom used to talk about how she and her sister used to get into a lot of trouble with the law when they were teens. But I don't recall meeting her... Anywho, "I'm sorry if I don't recognise you, Sera. But it's been a while."

She shook her head. "No, no. I completely understand. So, little Jenny's finally going on her journey. But..." She gave me a look-over. "Dressed like that?"

I looked at myself. "What? I like these clothes."

"But they're not practical."

"Not practic-Hey, look. At least I'm not wearing something like a skirt."

"True, but still. You should at least wear something that covers your arms. Also, just wearing that tank-top will make the boys come flocking."

I rolled my eyes. "I know that, Sera."

She blinked. "So...You're saying you're a whore?"

"...What? No! I just like the attention!" Damn, this lady doesn't pull any punches. Definitely related to my mother. "Look, at the expense of sounding rude, is the Professor here or not?"

She shook her head. "Sorry, Jenny. The Professor won't be here for another hour or so. There's a waiting area over to your right."

"Okay," I said. "Thanks Aunt Sera."

"Anytime."

I turned around, and accidentally bumped into someone. "Whoops, sorry, I wasn't looki-Oh crap-I mean, uh, hi!" Elektra stared down at me with cold indifference. Dammit, what's she doing here? Wait, let me guess, "So, um, you're starting a journey too?" Stare... "So yeah. I'm just gonna, you know, wait over there. 'Kaythanksbye!"

I proceeded to sit down at one of the tables that were scattered around the lobby. I watched Elektra register (dammit, she really is gonna do this), as I had nothing else better to do while waiting...

Except I did.

I pulled out a Pokemon battle guide and started skimming over the different chapters. I may live with a ton of Pokemon and train them, but that doesn't mean I know the ins and outs of battling. As I pondered over why in Arceus' name Bug was strong against Dark, someone sat opposite of me at the table. I glanced away from my book to see Elektra, then went back to reading.

...Wait.

"Oh shi-Hi Elektra!" I said with the fakest smile ever. I looked around and saw that there were plenty of tables open (in fact, all of them were. We were the only ones here), so I asked, "So um, why...?" I nervously motioned my hand in her general area, hoping she got the message. I think she did, but she said nothing, only staring (more like glaring...) at me with cold, hard eyes. "Ehh...What? Could you, um, stop staring please? It's kinda creeping me out."

The blonde raised an eyebrow and calmly said, "You do not know who I am." It was a statement, not a question.

"...Should I?"

She shook her head. "No, but most would have recognised Elektra Surge, daughter of the Lightning Tank: Lt. Thomas Surge."

"Oh...OH. OH WOW!" My eyes widened as I pulled out another book, this one all about famous and powerful trainers. I flipped to the Kanto section and went to the chapter about Surge. Sure enough, there was a little bio about his family, and there was a picture included. This girl in front of me was a couple years older than the one in the pic, but the resemblance was unmistakable. Holy shit, I can't believe I'm talking to a gym leader's kid! "I-I'm _so _sorry about how I acted last night! I mean, I-" A thought crossed my mind at that moment. "...Why did you bother telling me your name? We could've just gone our separate ways simply enough without me knowing about you."

Elektra sighed and glanced off to the side. "I have...never been much of a social person, as you can guess. So, to change that, my father..." Although her eyes showed annoyance, a faint blush creeped up her face. "He told me to find someone to travel with. He's hoping that this journey will 'open my social gates' or some kind of bullshit like that. And, as there seems to be no one else, and because I'm not a patient person," here, she went back to staring at me, "I'd like to ask if I could join you on your Pokemon journey."

I gawked. "A gym leader's daughter just asked to travel with me. I must be dreaming." The other girl reached over and pinched my arm. HARD. "Ow! What the fuck was that for?"

"I was expecting you to say, 'pinch me now.'"

Before I could respond, my aunt called out, "Jenny, Elektra, Prof. Birch is back. You may go see him now."


	3. Warm Return

I swear to Arceus, Birch looks nothing like a professor at all. Except the lab coat, but that may be a job requirement. The man was waiting for me and Elektra next to a strange, dome-topped machine. "Hello Jenna, Elektra. As you are aware, I am professor Birch. I study Pokemon in their natural habitat. Now, as you two are...older than the usual trainers starting their journey, I'll just skip over the basics of Pokemon training, as I'm sure you're well educated in that matter." Here, he chuckled. "After all, one of you is a daycare taker, and the other is a gym leader's daughter. Speaking of which," he turned to Elektra, "tell your old man I said hi."

She nodded. "Will do, professor."

"Just call me Birch." He patted his hand on the strange machine next to him. "Anyways, let's get you started on your journey. Will one of you step up to pick your first Pokemon?"

Me and Elektra stepped forwards at the same time. We looked at each other and glared, neither of us wanting to step down. "Well, there's only one way to settle this." She declared.

"But we don't have pistols." I joked. Apparently neither Elektra or Birch got the joke (and I must have an amazing poker face), because both of them gave me worried stares. "...I'm kidding. Best way to solve this," I pulled out a coin, "is with a flip of the coin." I set the small copper disk between my thumbnail and the crook of my forefinger. "Your call, Elektra." And with that, I flipped it.

"Tails."

I caught the coin as it came back down, and placed it on the back of my other hand. "...Dammit. It's tails." Dammitdammitdammit! Well, maybe if I'm lucky...

Elektra walked over to the machine, which opened to reveal three Pokeballs on a rotational platform. "So, which will it be, Elektra?" Birch asked.

"...Torchic."

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUU- "I wanted that one!"

The blonde bitch just _smirked_ and said, "Really? Well, I happen to like Torchic, so I guess you're just out of luck." She picked up said Pokemon's Pokeball and tossed it up and down in her hand. "Really, you could be a bit more mature about this."

I growled, "I'll show you _mature_." I stomped over to the machine and plucked the Pokeball that held Mudkip. "Me, you, battle, outside, _right now_!"

"If you insist."

Birch looked at us with slight fear in his eyes. "B-but I haven't even register-" I didn't hear him finish, as me and Bitchy McWhore had already stomped outside his lab, and then out of the building entirely.

The both of us walked a respectful distance from each other and then threw our Pokeballs. "Go, Mudkip!"

"Torchic, by my command!"

The blue water type with orange cheeks and the orange fire type with short wings were summoned out of their containers.

"Mudkip, Tackle it!"

"Torchic, dodge-...Huh?"

Neither Pokemon were listening, and in fact started playing around with each other like baby Growlithe. The door to Birch's lab opened, and the man himself came walking out. "It seems you two have a problem."

"Damn straight!" I shouted. "Mudkip won't listen to me!"

Elektra scoffed, "Could you be any more childish?"

"Could you be any more ass hat-ish?" She rolled her eyes and my amazing comeback. Hmph, she just can't think of anything to say back to me.

"As amusing as this verbal bout is," The professor drawled with obvious disinterest, "I have to tell you a little something about how Pokemon training works. Because both of you obviously don't remember that Pokemon don't obey people just because they hold their Pokeball. You either have to be licensed, or earn the Pokemon's trust. I've yet to assign a license to you two, and they obviously don't trust you." He sighed and walked over to me first. "Here's a license for you," he then walked over to Elektra, "and for you. You're both official Pokemon trainers now. How you'll progress in life from here on out is up to you and you alone. Good luck." Birch was about to walk back into his lab before he called out, "Oh, and please don't kill each other."

He vanished into the building as me and the bitch glared at each other. "No way in hell am I letting you travel with me." I hissed.

"Well, it's good that I reconsidered the moment after I asked." She added with a smug grin. "Torchic, retreat." She returned her Pokemon, and proceeded to walk away. "Next time we meet," Elektra called out to me, "I'll be ready."

I refused to dignify her with a response as I returned Mudkip. I stared at his Pokeball for a second before smiling. "...I'll call you Kipper." It was then that I decided to head back to Oldale.

As I walked through Route 101, I stared at my Trainer Card. It had a picture of me on it, with me looking a bit pissed. I guess there's a camera or something in the lab that takes pictures of trainers for this. Must've been when I was raging at Elektra. Won't that be a wonderful thing to show someone if they ask for my ID.

As I pondered (letting Kipper fight any wild Pokemon that got too close to me), it was night before I knew it and we were back in Oldale. I returned Kipper and ran straight to the Pokemon Center. I wanted a nap, _badly_. Because I'm now an official trainer, I got a room to myself (score!), and I slept for a good twelve hours.

Which made me panic like crazy when I checked the clock the next morning and discovered that it wasn't morning at all! I took Kippers back from the nurse (I left him in her care overnight) and snatched some food from the trainer cafe (free food for official trainers!) before bolting out of the center and through the town.

I wanted to get home before nightfall, thank you very much!

After about ten minutes of running through the grassy path, I found a large rock on the side of the road and sat on it. I was so out of breath. "Dammit, I hate sleeping in." I panted. Just for the hell of it, I sent out Kipper so he could enjoy the small time of peace. "Hey there," I cooed, still a bit winded, "how're you doing?"

"Kip!" He called and jumped on my lap. As much as I wanted Torchic, I have to admit that a Mudkip wasn't a bad runner-up. I scratched the base of his neck while I looked to the sky for an estimate of the time. It was about one, and I still had a few miles left to go, so...

I sighed, "Damn, this journey's gonna be one helluva long one."

"But it's completely worth it." Came a voice from behind me.

I jumped off the rock in fright (and accidentally pushing poor Kipper to the ground) and turned around to see who snuck up on me. My eyes widened as I recognized his features. "Wally!"

The green-haired boy nodded and smiled, "Yep. Nice to see you too, Jenna."

I ran up to the boy (damn, when did he get taller than me?) and gave him a hug. "Holy crap, Wally! It's been ages since we've seen you! Everyone at school talked about you like, every other day. And then, when you showed up on TV all of a sudden...And in the Pokemon League, no less!"

He laughed and gave me a small hug in return. "Yeah, it has been a while, huh?"

"And look at you!" I cheered as I pulled away from him with a grin. "You're not as pale as a ghost anymore, and you look like you could actually lift something heavier than a Picher!"

He chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I'll take that as a compliment." He motioned towards the rock, and we both sat down. Kipper had recovered from the fall, and he jumped back up to my lap. "So, how's everyone at school been?"

"You have a fan club, now." I said with a mischievous smile.

His face blanched a little, "Is...Is that so?"

"Yep. All the girls who used to think you were some scrawny weakling now think you're hot, and all the guys that used to pick on you now think you're the coolest thing since Red."

Wally's face went from white to red as he processed all this new information. "Really, now...Wait, didn't you used to make fun of-"

"_Used_ to, is the key term!" I replied as my face seemed to absorb his blush.

The green haired boy just chuckled kindly. He then glanced at my new Pokemon. "So, I guess you're going on a journey, too?"

I nodded, "Yep."

"What do you plan to do on your adventure?"

"I don't know. I was thinking of the Pokemon League, but I'm not much for battling as I am for raising my Pokemon to the best that they can be." And, as an afterthought: "And don't even mention contests."

Wally laughed, and asked, "What's wrong with contests? Heck, I've even been in a couple of them. I've _won_ a couple of them! They're pretty fun."

I scoffed, "I'm not into pampering my Pokemon to show off to the masses."

He seemed like he was about to give a counter-argument, but instead he just shrugged. "If that's how you feel." An odd silence descended upon us. It wasn't awkward, but it wasn't comfortable, either. "So, you heading back to Petalburg?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I need to say bye to everyone." We both stood up from the rock and I returned Kipper to his ball.

"I'll go with you. I was heading back there anyways." Wally offered.

I nodded an affirmative and we started walking northwards down the path. "Hey Wally," I asked as a thought struck me, "why were you here, anyways?"

He smiled and looked upwards at the sky. "Just reminiscing..."

* * *

Things will pick up later, I swear.

Also, spellcheck wasn't working, so sorry if there's a mistake or two. Or ten.


	4. Steel Will

Me and Wally chatted to each other for a long while, and before I knew it, we were back in Petalburg and it was already dark out. We parted ways with me promising to see him one more time tomorrow before I left on my journey. I wasn't surprised to find all the lights in my house were off, as my parents always went to bed early. I fished my keys out of my pocket and unlocked the front door.

My first sight as I entered the house was the angry glare of Deryl, a Scizor who was basically our night-watch. My second sight was one of his steel claws an inch away from my neck. Sadly, this isn't the first time that this has happened. Or the second. Or the tenth. I'm a teen, I like to party, what can I say? "Deryl, relax. It's just me." I calmly stated.

Is it weird that my sense of danger had been diluted because I constantly put myself into situations like this?

Deryl blinked, then lowered his claw back to his side. And like the ninja I keep on telling my mom he is, he vanished into the shadows without a trace.

I sighed and walked through my house and into my room. I was too exhausted to bother with getting ready for bed, so I just settled with undoing my hair and letting Kipper out of his ball. "This is my room." I told him, though I wasn't sure if the Mudkip understood me at all. I don't think he did, because the first thing he did was jump on my bed and start rolling around like a happy Growlithe. "Yeah, I...kinda sleep there." I had no idea why I was talking to him, as I'm pretty sure that Pokemon as young as Kipper didn't understand human speech that well.

I decided to just let the little guy do what he wanted, and I slipped under the covers of my bed. I reached under it and grabbed my small remote which let me turn off the lights without getting up. Yay laziness! Kipper had finally settled down at the end of the bed and curled into a little ball for comfort. It wasn't much later that he had obviously fallen asleep, a cute little smile on his face.

My last thoughts before I drifted off, was that maybe getting a Mudkip was worth it. They were cute, and Swampert was awesome. Marshtomp wasn't really all that cool or cute, but I could deal with that.

...

I was rudely woken up when I felt someone pinch my nose. "...Mom. How old are you?" She let go of my nose and backed off a bit. As I slowly became more conscious, I noticed that she was holding a happy Kipper in her arms and she was grinning like an idiot. "I know you like Mudkips mom," I stated, "but Kipper is _my_ Pokemon."

She shook her head, but kept that large smile on her face. "I know, but that's not it." She held Kipper to her face. "This little guy must've had amazing parents! Healthy skin, strong for a Pokemon his age, and quite a happy little ball of joy!"

I groaned in annoyance as I got out of bed. "Mom, you sound like...Like...Something that I can't figure out an appropriate metaphor for right now."

"Simile."

"Whatever." I stretched my arms above my head and gave her a weary glance. "Also, hi mom."

"Oh, yeah." She chuckled with embarrassment. "Hello, Jenna."

After shooing my mom out of my room and returning Kipper to his ball, I readied myself for the day and travelled to the dining room, where a simple plate of eggs and bacon was waiting. "I'm gonna miss this." I said aloud. I ate the breakfast quickly and dashed to our backyard. Well, I should say back-field. It's where my dad does all his ranching.

Speaking of which, I finally found my dad so I could say goodbye. Unfortunately, I had to wait, as he was trying to get a Tauros into his pen without agitating it. After about five minute with no success, he gave up and let the Pokemon do whatever it wanted. "Damn Tony's getting more stubborn by the day..." He mumbled as he walked straight past me.

"...Hey! Dad!"

His head snapped up as his attention came back to reality. "Jenna? Oh! Morning!" Realization seemed to have passed over him as his expression turned a bit bittersweet. "So, you're finally starting your journey today, huh?"

I nodded. "Yep. I'll be back for a badge, but that probably won't be for a while." I quickly found myself trapped in a large bear hug. "Urk-!"

"I'm gonna miss you, Jenna. Make sure you call me from time to time, alright?"

Despite the fact that my ribs felt like they could break any second, I found the strength to smile and hug my dad back. "Sure thing, dad." After a moment of this, we finally let go of eath other and I asked, "Where's mom? I wanna say bye to her, too."

My dad chuckled and pointed westwards. "Megan's waiting at the city gate. Said she's got a surprise for you."

I nodded and waved as I started jogging out of the yard. "Thanks. Next time you see me, I'll be half a champion!"

After about an hour or so of saying goodbye to my friends (Wally gave me some good travelling advice too), I finally reacjed the western gate of Petalburg. Sure enough, my mother was waiting there. And she was wearing jeans, a black vest over a red shirt, hiking boots, and a backpack slung over a shoulder.

_WHAT._

"Mom, what are you doing." I demanded. No time for questions.

"I'm travelling with you, of course!" She replied with a simple grin. "And you can't refuse. I'm your mother, after all."

"...Son of a _bitch_."

"I'm a daughter of a bitch, thank you very much."

* * *

...Next chapter will actually be worth the wait I swear.


End file.
